Our fabulous wedding reception at Cafe de Paris in Columbia MD on 4 August 2013

Sarah and Siyah, Freedom HS, Woodbridge, VA, October 2018

The Delaware Beaches, Summer 2014

Mary Lou's 60th Birthday, St. John, January 2013

Santorini, Greece October 2016

Buthaina inducted into Union College Athletic Hall of Fame! November 2013

Boot's 70th Birthday, Deer Isle, Maine, August 2018

Jeffrey's 60th birthday, Winchester, June 2010

Hiking in Maryland 2012

David and Cole, LA, Summer 2014

Buthaina (Shukri) and I live in Columbia, Maryland - Buthaina works in development for the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at George Washington University and I'm 'retired' from a 30+ year career in science and defense policy issues. Buthaina and I married in 2013 after meeting in 2009. My late wife Sara died in 2007, and between us Buthaina and I have 5 children: David and Sarah (mine), Jessica (Buthaina's), and Rachael and Laura (my step-daughters from Sara); and so far four grand-children: Cole and Erin (David), Siyah (Sarah), and Ben (Rachael). We share our Columbia townhouse with two Maine coon rescue cats, Lili and Ava.

Beginning in 2012, I began spending a good deal of time on US-Cuba projects. First it was educational and marine research projects involving members of the Hemingway family, with Mavis Anderson and the Latin America Working Group of Washington, DC. That transitioned to working with Greg Belanger and Steve Schwadron and Ocean Passages LLC of Portland, Maine, and sailing a 131-foot schooner, the Harvey Gamage, to Cienfuegos, Cuba for educational and marine skills training programs. Unfortunately, Trump administration policies have crippled US-Cuba cooperative efforts, with real damage done to Cuban entrepreneurs in the tourism and other economic sectors.

I volunteer here in Columbia: mentoring/tutoring with 3rd and 4th graders, as a driver with Neighbor Ride, and starting up a Youth in Philanthropy program with the Community Foundation of Howard County. A special honor has been serving as a board member of a family foundation, the Charles H. Hood Foundation in Boston, supporting pediatric research and children's health, primarily in New England but also nationally and internationally.

In October 2018 I regretfully retired my 2005 Mini Cooper S for a used 2017 Mini Cooper John Cooper Works, and I'll continue to take lengthy road trips whenever possible. I continue my love of Shakespeare, and go regularly to the American Shakespeare Center in Staunton, Virginia and the Folger Shakespeare Theater in Washington. And of course, visiting family as much as possible, from Winchester, Albany and Killington up north, to St. Louis, Kansas City and Los Angeles out west.

Buthaina and I play a good deal of USTA tennis; we've both been fortunate to have been on teams that went to the national championships in Phoenix in recent years. Our teams were soundly trounced, but the experience was unforgettable. We hike, play golf, enjoy music and theater in both Baltimore and Washington, follow the Washington Capitals (2018 Stanley Cup Champions!) and get together for meals, music, hiking and other pastimes with a wonderful circle of friends.

I'm not able to update the website as often as I'd like, but always enjoy doing so when there's time.